Don't You Have Anything Better To Do?
by kiteribbon
Summary: Don't you? Male x Male/Asriel x Frisk


"Don't you have anything better to do?"

Asriel Dreemurr gave Frisk the biggest smile he could manage, in the hopes it would ease the other boy's conscience and convince him to return to his new friends and family. The smile didn't reach his eyes though.

The minutes that Frisk stood there were painful for the goat boy. Asriel did his best to hold back the tears and sobs he so desperately wanted to let out. He could be strong. He could be brave. In his mind, he channeled his inner "God of Hyperdeath", whom he knew was the strongest and bravest persona that he came up with when he and Chara would draw together.

Eventually, Frisk turned to leave, and in that moment Asriel felt an intense sensation of deja vu. It was as if not just a single Frisk was leaving, but countless Frisks, each with different and interesting choices of fashion. Tutus. Aprons, Eyeglasses. Asriel could have sworn that they all had different degrees of emotion etched into their normally stoic expression.

By the time Frisk had entered the hallway that lead out of the cavern, Asriel was shaking like a leaf, in his mind he hoped he didn't have real leaves yet. As Frisk's figure was fading into the darkness, images flashed before the little monster's eyes. They were the hopes and dreams of a person he hadn't been in countless years. The last wishes of a child who had been buried away under mountains of dust, self-loathing, and emptiness.

Asriel imagined being reunited with his mom and dad again. Being held and feeling their warmth. He imagined meeting all of Frisk's friends and getting to know them. He imagined Frisk, with all their love and kindness, keeping each other safe as they grew up together. All these wishes and more passed through the child's mind, and with them followed the horrible voice of Flowey taunting the child:

 ** _You'll never see them again._**

In that moment, a single drop in a sea of timelines, the last remnant of Asriel Dreemurr refused. Fighting against the current of fate, desperate to break to the surface of the darkness drowning him.

It only manifested as a pained noise without description, but it echoed through the large cavern above and through the hallway. It reached Frisk's ears just as he had disappeared completely. And he stopped, slowly turning to look back at the other boy as he fell to his knees in tears.

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Asriel gasped. "P-please wait!" there was panic in his voice.

Frisk quickly walked back to the sobbing child, kneeling in front of him. He continued to cry, large droplets matting the fur on his cheeks and splashing on the golden flowers below. Frisk whimpered softly at the sight, tears silently sliding down his cheeks as well.

Asriel crawled forward slightly. "Pease d-don't leave yet! I'm s-s-sorry!"

Frisk was confused, why was he apologizing? He had already forgiven the boy. Was he apologizing for asking him to come back? Frisk pulled the shivering boy into his arms, letting him rest his head on his shoulder while gently rubbing his back and head, rocking back and forth softly.

"I'm sorry…" he whimpered. "I k-know I deserve to stay h-here and become Flowey again… Especially after everything I did…" Frisk frowned at the other boy's words.

"I should be happy and accept that outcome, knowing that you and all the other monsters will be happy… I-I mean, I've been Flowey much longer than I was Asriel…" He sniffled. "Asriel died so long ago.." Frisk could feel new sobs forming in the goat child as he spoke again. Frisk held him tighter in response. "B-but, I don't want to be a-alone! I d-don't want to let go! I d-don't wah-want to be F-Flowey again!" Asriel was crying so hard that it was becoming harder to understand his words, but they rang clearly to Frisk's ears.

"O-oh god F-Frisk, p-please save me!"

And with that, the greatest wish of a child, who had been pulled over the cauldron to hell by a demon, echoed across time and through the cavern.

They remained that way for a few minutes. Soft sobs slowly fading away.

"Thank you.." Frisk whispered.

Asriel reluctantly pulled away at those words, sniffling and trying to calm down he looked at the other boy. "H-huh..?" Asriel was confused, why was he being thanked?

"I've been here many times… but I couldn't save you… because you didn't want to be." The human child explained, while wiping a his tears on his sleeve. "You had accepted this ending, so I didn't have any choices."

Asriel gazed at the other boy, tears still softly falling, but was intent on listening to what the human had to say.

"When we fought, my SOUL broke in half." Asriel choked at those words, and was about to apologize again, but Frisk quickly gave the boy's paws a reassuring squeeze as he continued. "It didn't shatter, it just broke in two. And then, it re-fused."

The goat boy had an confused look on his face. "I don't understand…"

Frisk's SOUL bloomed from his chest and he smiled broadly enough to rival Undyne. "So maybe I can un-fuse it!"

"Wait, Wha?" Asriel was completely lost as to what Frisk was talking about, shaking his head in confusion as his ears flopped about. He didn't have wait long as the other boy grabbed his own SOUL and snapped it in half.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!" Asriel was screaming and flailing his arms wildly "Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh! Noooooo! Why!? Why did you do that!?" Asriel was hysterical, tears streaming, nose running. He looked around desperately "Somebody help! PLEASE!" He yelled out.

 ***But nobody came…**

 ***...But it was ok!**

Why wasn't Frisk freaking out? Why was he looking at the two pieces of SOUL in his hands trying to decide which piece was bigger?

"Wha.. A-are you okay..?" Asriel said weakly, his voice hoarse from screaming. Frisk looked up at the other boy.

"Yeah." He said simply. Looking back at the pieces of SOUL, he handed a piece to Asriel. "Here. I think it's the same size, if it's not you can have a bite of mine so it's fair."

 ***o_o Best described the goat boy's face at that moment.**

"Frisk! Y-your SOUL isn't a cookie!" Asriel shouted as he grabbed the other boy's shoulders and began to shake him.

"Y-you IDIOT!" He gasped. Where had that come from? "I-I'm S-sorry, I-" Asriel was cut off as Frisk pushed the piece of SOUL into Asriel's mouth.

"Mmff!"

 ***…gulp**

 ***…**

"Ha… ha…" the goat boy was shaking. "I just ate your SOUL.." he was pulling on his ears anxiously. "Haha… It happened, I've lost my mind I…" he paused. "I-I feel warm… I feel...!"

 ***SMOOCH**

Frisk planted a big kiss on Asriel's cheek, causing him to squeak in surprise.

"F-Frisk! W-what was that for..?" he looked at the other boy incredulously, touching his cheek.

"Just making my move early." He replied with a grin.

"Huh?" the goat boy blinked.

"Yeah, you're my SOUL-mate now. And we'll never be whole unless we're together." Frisk finished with an eyebrow wiggle.

Asriel could feel his face heating up, turning pink. "Oh my gosh… Is this is real..? Am I dreaming?"

Everything was happening so fast, and in such a silly way. How could life had been so unfair in the past, and now be so ridiculous? Was it Frisk? Did their mindset affect reality?

"Nah, it's not a dream. But that's a good idea, I could use a nap." Frisk stifled a yawn before he lay down in the flowerbed, pulling the other boy with him.

The goat child was seemingly in a state of shock. He had just been given a second chance at life. He would be able to see his parents. He would meet all of Frisk's friends. He would be with Frisk. As he lay down next to the other boy, tears of happiness and relief trailed down the already heavily matted fur. Frisk pulled the goat child into into a tight embrace and lifted a hand up to his face, using his thumb to brush away the tears, stroking his cheek.

"Thank you.. thank you.. thank you..." Asriel whispered over and over as he buried his face into Frisk's neck. They were the eternally grateful words of a SOUL lost so long ago to the cruelty of fate. "Please don't let this be a dream! Please! …please..." he held on tighter, and Frisk returned the hug in assurance.

 ***Zzzzzz**

Eventually soft Zzzzz's filled the cavern. Real ones though, not just the sound of someone saying Zzzzz over and over.

At the entrance of the cavern, Sans leaned against the wall, eyes closed, hands in his hoodie.

"heh. welp, i guess that's what happens when you don't give up. maybe i should do the same…"

The first thought that passed Asriel's mind as consciousness returned to him was how incredibly comfortable he was, the feeling of sleeping in a nice warm bed bundled in soft blankets. It was a feeling that he hadn't experienced since he died.

This was followed by a feeling of dread. The last memory he had was falling asleep next to Frisk in the flowerbed. There was no way that the flowers and dirt were this comfortable so the only conclusion the child could come to was:

 ***It was a dream.**

Whimpering softly, Asriel was afraid to open his eyes and see the truth, whatever that may be. Tentatively, he wiggled his toes, and then his fingers. He could feel his arms and legs, that was a good sign. Quickly patting himself confirmed he still had a body. He wasn't Flowey. But he felt something strange touching his body.

And the question still remained, where was he? Maybe he had finally died for good, and this was heaven? Only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes. What he found caused his breath to hitch in surprise, and made his heart skip a beat. Frisk's face was inches from his own, sleeping. The other boy's arm was circled around Asriel's side, and their legs were intertwined.

Asriel felt new tears in his eyes, and a sob of happiness escaped the boy's lips before he could stop it. Frisk stirred at the sound, opening his eyes as much as could be considered opened for him. He smiled softly at Asriel.

"Heya." he mumbled, still shaking the sleepiness off. "Y'ok? Don't cry, it's alright." He moved his arm from Asriel's side under the blankets to pet his left ear.

"H-howdy." Asriel whispered shyly, sniffling. "I was um, kinda scared that it had been a dream." Frisk kissed Asriel's forehead, causing him to blush. "If this is a dream, then I hope I never wake up." the monster child whispered.

Frisk paused his petting, glancing around. They were in Asriel's old bed in the Home in the ruins.

"By the way, how did we get here? Did we sleepwalk?"

 ***Yawn**

Both boys quickly sat up. Gulping, they realized that there was someone else in the room with them, right next to the bed for that matter. Slowly, they both peered over the edge of the bed.

"hey. morning."

The lamp in the corner suddenly clicked on revealing Sans lying on the floor next to the bed with a pillow, a blanket, and a small teddy monster under his arm.

Asriel's eyes widened in fear. Memories of Sans killing him as Flowey flashed before his eyes. Frisk jumped slightly when Asriel let out a bleat of fear and dove under the blankets behind him. Frisk hugged the blanket mound in response. "Hey." Frisk greeted Sans as the skeleton stood up and stretched. "Why were you sleeping on the floor?"

"heh. carrying you two here was a ton of work…" Frisk prepared for the inevitable punch line.

"cuz' you two weight a ton."

Frisk blinked, then huffed slightly. "Hey! That's rude!" Frisk exclaimed as he threw a pillow at the short skeleton. Chuckling slightly Sans turned his attention to Mt. Blankets.

"your little friend ok? he looks like he's having a bad time."

The mound of blankets started shaking at those words, and slowly, Asriel peeked out from under them.

"H-howdy S-S-Sans!" the monster child forced out, wincing at his own heavy stutter. He hugged Frisk's arm.

Sans looked at the shivering boss monster. "heh. uh hey kid. i don't think we've met, but uh, you know my name, so maybe i'm wrong?" Sans finished with a wink.

Asriel gasped at his mistake. 'That was it' he thought. He had messed up. He had one chance to live the life he had lost, and he messed it up. Now Sans was going to kill him.

"Yeah Sans, he was Flowey." Frisk said suddenly. "Remember Flowey? He tried to kill us all and steal our souls. He did lots of bad things, but it wasn't his fault 'cuz he didn't have a SOUL."

Asriel gaped at Frisk.

"oh yeah?" Sans said as his pupils disappeared.

"Yeah." Frisk continued. "But I gave him half my SOUL so he's good again." He looked over at the goat boy who appeared to be in complete shock, and pulled him into a hug. "He's pretty cute. He's been through a lot so he needs lots of love and hugs. We're SOUL-mates now, so we're probably gonna marry." He finished with a determined nod.

 ***…**

"F-Friiiiisk!" whined Asriel. "Wh-wh-why did you say all thaaat!? There had to be a more delicate way to say it! Oh gosh, Sans is g-going to k-kill me now!" He begin pulling on his ears. "H-He's gonna impale me on bones, a-and burn me to a crisp with lasers! Aaaah, nonono, I had one chance to make things right and it's ruined…" Frisk began petting the goat boy to calm him down.

The room was silent for a moment.

"… Did you say marry?" Asriel asked the other boy. Frisk 'winked' and gave him a thumbs up. Asriel covered his face with his ears.

"wow. quite the imagination you got there kiddo." Sans said while taking a seat on the bed and pulling out his journal. "if i did something like that, then i'd be the bad guy.

"I-I would deserve it..." Asriel whispered softly. Frisk hugged him harder, a little too hard "Ack! Frisk! OK! OK! I'm sorry!" But Frisk just squeezed harder. "Wh-what are.." He followed Frisk's gaze to Sans, still sitting there silently looking over his journal. He understood.

Slipping off the bed, Asriel stood in front of Sans. The little goat child looked up at the skeleton. In reply Sans lowered his journal, and there a single eye glowed yellow and blue. He flinched, remembering that eye from previous timelines. Sans was merciless to him as Flowey. He had been utterly ripped to pieces. Flowey was by no means weak, a testament to how powerful Sans could be when he was serious. In his current state, Asriel felt fragile. If he wanted to, Sans could turn him to dust in an instant.

Working up all the courage and determination that he could he looked into Sans eye.

"S-Sans, I'm so sorry." he began. "I died so long ago… and when I was brought back as Flowey, I had lost my ability to feel love or compassion. I hurt people. I k-killed p-people because I was…" The little goat began crying as he spoke. "… because I was bored!"

Sans eye narrowed slightly.

Frisk looked on patiently.

"Oh god, I've done such horrible things… This is why I wanted Frisk to leave me alone. It hurts so much to have feelings again. B-but I wanted to give Asriel a chance. I want that little boy that lost everything to have a second chance at life. I can be brave for him, and I want to repay Frisk for everything he's done for me." Asriel held his paws up to his face, examining them "I-I'm not really sure who I am… I have all of Asriel's memories, and all of Flowey's memories too... And now I feel all the love and compassion Frisk feels. He loves you all so much..."

Frisk gave Asriel a thumbs up from his spot next to Sans.

"I may not know who I am, but I know who I want to be." Putting his hands to his chest, Asriel summoned his SOUL piece. Frisk hopped off the bed and summoned his own as he went to stand next to the other boy. Side-by-side their SOUL halves became one for a moment. "I-I want to be Asriel Dreemurr again."

 ***The two children were filled with determination.**

And just like that, their SOUL pieces returned to them.

Sans was silent. His eyes were both dark voids. Slowly, he reached his left hand up. Asriel squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the worst.

"boop." Sans said as he poked the boy's nose, causing him to stagger in shock.

"c'mon kid, this room is way too tense. i'm not gonna beat you up buddy, besides, it sounds like you'll be doing enough of that for the both of us." Standing up Sans walked towards the bedroom door. "Just remember what you said, and promise you'll be good. Frisk has given you precious gift. take care of it." And with that Sans strolled out of the room.

Frisk gave Asriel a reassuring pat on the back. "You were really brave." He said softly.

"T-thank you Frisk." Asriel sighed softly. He had only woken a short while ago but he already felt tired again. Sitting on the edge of the bed to catch his breath, he was greeted with a loud:

 ***Pfffffffffffffffthhhff!**

Asriel's eyes widened in shock. He had sat right on Sans' whoopee cushion.

Frisk fell over laughing.

From the hall came Sans voice.

"wow. is the legendary fart master in there? get me their autograph, will ya? heh. geeeeeettttt dunked on!"

"I changed my mind…" Asriel said weakly as he fell back on the bed. "I want to go back in the flower."

"Dunked on!" Frisk shouted as he threw himself on top of the flustered child.

The ensuing pillow fight was accompanied with the sound of two children laughing.

"Hee hee hee!"

Frisk was shocked at the sound at first. Asriel was laughing and smiling, truly smiling. His laugh was nothing like Flowey's, it was breathy and light, complete with snorts and squeals. All in all, a dorky little laugh, and it was perfect.

'It was more than worth the wait.' Frisk thought to himself before laughing again.

In the living room, Sans was sending a text message to Toriel and the others.

 _TORIEL: Did you find Frisk?_

 _SANS: yep, no problemo. we just had to pick up something important on the way back._

 _TORIEL: That's wonderful to hear! What did you need to pick up that was so important? ]: )_

 _SANS: my pet rock. ; )_

 _TORIEL: L-O-L (Lots of Laughter)_

 _The sound of the two children laughing traveled down the hall._

 _SANS: oh, and something else that'll probably get your goat._

 _SANS: btw - hey is it ok if i use your kitchen? the kids are probably hungry._

 _TORIEL: Oh of course! I did not know that you could cook! I would love to try your cooking some time. ]; )_

 _SANS: for sure ; )_

Sans closed the phone and walked over to the kitchen.

At the dinner table in NEW HOME, Toriel re-read the message and wondered what Sans meant by "kids" only to be interrupted by a cry of "TURN UP THE HEAT" followed shortly by the smoke detector going off.

The pillow fight had devolved into a tickle fight, and then into an imaginary fight as Asriel described the God of Hyperdeath in detail, and all his attacks. Frisk listened intently.

"What kind of attack would your character use?" Asriel asked the human child.

Frisk thought about it, and with a small smile he answered. "A hug attack!"

Asriel groaned. "You can't hug someone as your attack!"

"Yes, you can! I hugged the God of Hyperdeath and won remember? And I can do it again!" Frisk hugged Asriel for what had to be the 50th time in the last hour. And for the 50th time Asriel gave in.

"Awe, you got me there." Asriel said. But then he noticed something.

 ***Sniff-sniff**

They both smelled. Neither of them had bathed since…

He didn't know the answer to that question.

Asriel looked at Frisk, too shy to say anything, but hoping that Frisk noticed as well. At that moment, Sans appeared in the doorway.

"hey kiddos, i'm making some food for us, it shouldn't take too long-" Sans paused, taking a whiff of the air in the room. "phew. ripe in here."

Asriel looked grateful to Sans for noticing. Frisk had apparently been oblivious, giving an experimental sniff under his arm.

"yeah. you're gonna have a bath time" Sans said with a wink.

The two boys entered the bathroom. Contrary to popular human belief, some monsters still need to bathe. They also needed to use the restroom after drinking liquids.

Asriel realized that they would be bathing together. He reminded himself that there was really no reason to be shy. Frisk certainly wasn't. Not only were they both boys, but also he had lived a long life as Flowey. He had read every book in the librarby countless times. He knew everything there was to about monster and human anatomy.

And yet…

It felt as if that shy little kid he used to be was asserting himself stronger than ever before. He turned on the faucet and adjusted the heat. "Hey Frisk, do you wanna add the bubbles?" He said with a smile, turning to hand him the bottle.

"Sure!" Frisk said happily, and nakedly.

"Uwah!" Asriel grabbed the side of the tub to steady himself. 'perfect reaction Asriel, super cool.' he thought to himself.

Shrugging, Frisk took the bottle and began squirting the whole thing into the tub while Asriel had a pretty obvious internal battle.

'Stop thinking so much!' Asriel thought as he shook his head, hitting himself in the face with his floppy ears a few times. He turned to Frisk, steeling himself he pulled off his shirt and dropped his pants, standing there awkwardly. Frisk looked over at the other boy, giving him a good look over.

Asriel watched Frisk's eyes travel down to his feet and back up again, pausing twice at the same spot. Asriel blushed.

'He's not being subtle at all!' the goat boy thought to himself, a tick appearing on his forehead. 'Well two can play at that!' Asriel let his eyes do some wandering as well.

 ***…..**

After a few moments, the two boys started laughing.

"Hee hee! We're pretty similar… humans and monsters I mean." Asriel commented as the laughter subsided.

"You're all fluffy, though! I'm jealous." Frisk remarked.

"Ugh… I don't look forward to drying my fur after this." sighed Asriel as he looked over to the tub. "Ah!" he exclaimed. The tub was no longer visible.

 ***Only bubbles live there now.**

Sans pulled the quiche out of the oven and set it on the stove to cool. He looked at it sadly.

"i wasn't ready for the responsibility before… but i promise to give you a home this time."

He looked up at the clock, they had been in there awhile. 'i should let them know food is ready.' Sans thought to himself as he walked towards the bathroom door.

"food time kids!" he called.

There was no response.

The skeleton waited for a moment and was about to knock on the door when he noticed something. His eyes trailed downward as he noticed a steady stream of foam bubbling up from under the door. Swallowing nervously, he reached for the door handle, his left eye glowed as he prepared for what awaited him.

Quickly he pulled the door open.

A wall of white foam greeted him.

Recovering from the shock, he called out into the white void.

"hey. uh, anyone still alive in there?"

The sound of water splashing could be heard, and what sounded like footsteps moving towards the door. The foam shook and from the depths of void emerged a horrendous 4 legged amalgamate, gurgling and sputtering.

"n-no… i couldn't save you…" Sans said sadly.

The amalgamate stopped gurgling and looked at the little skeleton. Suddenly, foam flew everywhere as the two kids inside shook like dogs leaving them squeaky clean.

"S-sorry Sans…" Asriel apologized softly. "It was an accident."

"I added all the bubbles, Sans!" Frisk exclaimed happily. The boy looked at the short skeleton. "Hey looking good!"

Sans currently had an afro of bubbles. "thanks, kid. i wanted to try something new" the skeleton said nonchalantly. He looked at what had once been a bathroom. "welp. good thing we don't have to clean this up." He turned his attention to the boys in front of him, Asriel looked like a wet puppy. Meanwhile, Frisk was busy making Asriel a top hat out of bubbles.

"I call it, dapper bubble!" Frisk laughed.

"Thanks, Frisk." Asriel giggled a bit at the other boy's silliness.

'He has such an amazing effect on people' Sans observed. 'is this the power of human determination?' He shook his head. "food is ready. get dry and get dressed and come eat. then we'll head out."

Drying was a fun experience.

For frisk.

In the past, Asriel's parents would always dry his fur with their fire magic. Unfortunately, Asriel couldn't use magic at the moment, and he was too scared to try.

So they had to settle for a huge fluffy towel and vigorous rubbing. Frisk was dry in no time, Asriel on the other hand… took more effort.

The poor boy was currently being smothered in the towel,

"O-ow! Frisk not so rough!" The monster child whined. Frisk stopped and pulled the towel away. There stood what could best be described as a snow poff. Frisk's eyes widened, sparkling as stepped toward the fuzz ball.

"Huh? Frisk, what's that weird expression you're making?" Asriel stepped back in fear, but it was too late, the 51st hug attack hit him with all the force of a gentle breeze. The little monster blushed and gave in, melting into the touch.

"A-as much as I'd love to stand here hugging you naked—" Asriel kicked himself mentally. "—ah t-that is to say, there's food! I'm hungry! A-aren't you?

Frisk nodded vigorously.

Asriel smiled and moved over to his closet. "I wonder if there are still clothes in here..? Aha!" He pulled out a couple shirts, "Would you like pink or purple?" They were solid colored, lacking stripes. Frisk took the pink, and Asriel the purple.

Clean and dressed, the two boys entered the living room just in time to see Sans place a quiche on the dining table. Frisk gasped at the sight and ran over the quiche, staring at it intently.

"uh, kiddo, something wrong?" Sans asked curiously.

Asriel also glanced between Frisk and the quiche.

Frisk didn't say anything. Instead he pulled out his upgraded cell phone, and accessed the Dimensional Box, and pulled out the Abandoned Quiche.

Sans stumbled back like he had seen a ghost. "F-frisk, where did you find that?"

Frisk looked at Sans sympathetically. "It's OK." he said, patting the skeleton softly. "They can be together now." And with that, Frisk placed the Abandoned Quiche next to the newly made one.

 ***the Abandoned Quiche became the Loved Quiche.**

 ***It looks happy.**

Asriel looked at the two quiches sitting on the table, and back to Frisk comforting a nearly in tears Sans. He blinked. He didn't understand what was happening, but he was sure it was touching.

The quiches both tasted delicious.

After eating, the trio set out to the capital.

Asriel took a deep breath of the cool air outside the ruins, watching as it turned to mist on his exhale. Little things he had taken for granted before he died had become fascinating and beautiful to him now. As Flowey had no interest in the world around him, it was just a game. Things were different now, Asriel was determined to not waste a second of the gift of life he had been given. He shivered slightly, he had forgotten how cold it was outside the ruins.

The monster child blinked. Something felt strange. His eyes began to tear, and he took it a few quick breaths before squeezing his eyes shut and-

"Achoo!" he sneezed.

The action felt foreign to him after so many years of being unable to. After all, flowers don't have noses,

"heh. you know people used to think it was your SOUL coming out when you sneezed" Sans commented as he walked by the sniffling monster.

"Really!?" Frisk asked the skeleton in shock.

Sans shrugged. "yeah. but now we know it 'snot." he finished with a wink.

"Pfft! Hee hee hee!" Asriel giggled covering his mouth.

Sans stopped and looked back at the giggling goat.

"anyone who can enjoy a good pun can't be all that bad." The skeleton said softly, more to himself than to anyone else.

Asriel wiped a couple tears of laughter from his eyes and gazed at Sans. The comment meant a lot to him. Of all the monsters in the Underground, Sans, in Asriel's opinion, would be the one who would never forgive him, not really at least. But maybe, that could change one day too.

The thought filled him with determination… and hope.

They continued walking towards SNOWDIN, waving to monsters along the way. Thankfully, none had recognized Asriel yet.

Sans noticed Doggo up ahead, waving to the dog sentry, he turned to the two kids.

"hey, i'm just gonna chat with Doggo for a minute, you two go and play or something."

Asriel and Frisk nodded.

It was at that moment that Frisk caught sight of Snowdrake in the distance and ran off to say hello. Asriel would have joined him, but he was distracted by a snow dodecahedron on the ground. Giving it a good kick he laughed as it slid across the ice. Sans kept an eye on the two boys as they played and continued to chat with Doggo.

Asriel was having a lot of fun kicking the snow dodecahedron around, and his newest goal was to kick it into the hole he saw at the end of the ice path.

After numerous attempts, he had still yet to get the dodecahedron in the hole. And much to his surprise, it was getting smaller and smaller by the second. Frustrated, Asriel gave it one final kick and watched as it ricocheted around the path and went right into the hole.

"YAAAY!" the small goat cheered at his accomplishment. To his surprise, a little red flag popped out of the hole and a few gold fell to the ground. "Wow." he commented and went to pick it up, but just as he was bending over he felt something strange. It wasn't a sneeze this time.

Asriel was suddenly struck with an intense wave of nausea, followed by an emptiness and a lack of feeling. The boy fell to the ground gasping. What was happening? He could feel tears in his eyes as he choked on a sob. He was feeling intense waves of negative emotions assaulting him and then dissipating. Like a lightbulb flickering before going out.

'Oh no…' The boy thought. 'Am I turning into Flowey?"

"P-please no!" he whimpered.

Just then he heard a shout. "hey kid! where are you!?" It was Sans.

For a moment, Asriel thought about running away. If he was going to become Flowey again, he didn't want to be anywhere near Frisk. But he felt too weak to run anyway. Then he caught a glimpse of Sans running toward him with a Frisk cradled in his arms. Frisk was crying.

Asriel gasped, fighting the weakness in his legs he staggered towards them.

"you too!? what's going on here?" Sans was panicking. Asriel had never seen him like this. Even during their fights, Sans always remained calm.

"I-I don't k-know!" Asriel stuttered. As Frisk and Sans came closer, Asriel felt the weakness in his legs disappear, and the torrent of horrible emotions subside. As Sans stopped in front of him, Asriel felt his body warming. Frisk stopped crying as well, and slowly opened their eyes.

"F-Frisk, are you ok?" Asriel said, his voice hoarse.

Frisk looked over at the goat child, and slid out of Sans arms and pulled Asriel into a tight embrace, sighing deeply in relief.

Asriel shivered. He felt like he had just been dunked in freezing water and thrown into a hot spring. It was quite a shock, followed by a relaxing warmth that permeated his entire being. He snuggled into the human as he filled with warmth.

Sans looked at the little mass of cuddles, uncertain what to do. "so. uh, you two are ok now?"

They hummed in response.

"ok. let's get to my place and we'll sort things out. don't worry, i know a shortcut, just hold on to each other tight."

The two children nodded, and with that, Sans picked the both of them up like a basketball and—

 ***CLICK**

Everything went dark.

 ***CLICK**

Suddenly they were in Sans and Papyrus' home in SNOWDIN. He gently dunked the two on the couch and did the same with himself, sweating and panting slightly from over-exerting his magic.

The two children looked around in surprise.

"Wow…" Asriel breathed.

"Cool! Can we do that again Sans?" Frisk bounced slightly on the couch, his energy back completely. But he didn't stop holding Asriel.

"heh. maybe some other time kiddo." Sans replied, wiping his forehead and trying to catch his breath. "you two are working me to the bone." He glanced over at the kids. "so what happened? i was chatting with Doggo, and suddenly Snowdrake comes running over to me with Frisk in their arms saying that you, uh, started crying and fell over. i didn't think his jokes were that bad." Turning his attention to Asriel. "and then i find the little prince in the same condition."

Frisk snuggled Asriel. "I felt really gross" He said. "But Asriel made me feel better." He said with a smile and leaning in giving Asriel a kiss on his cheek.

Asriel gasped slightly, blushing in embarrassment. "M-me too…" he stuttered, looking at Frisk with determination he quickly gave Frisk a quick kiss on the cheek in return, causing the other boy to giggle.

"ok kissy cuties, so you had a bad time when you got too far apart, and felt better when you were reunited?"

Asriel and Frisk nodded slowly, already understanding where this was going.

"Is it because we both have half of a SOUL? Does that mean we can't be too far apart?" Asriel asked.

"maybe. i dunno." Sans shrugged. "Alphys would, though."

Asriel cast his gaze to the floor. "Frisk… I… I'm so sorry…" he squeezed his eyes shut. "I said I wanted to repay you for everything you've done for me." Tears welled in the monster's eyes. "B-but I'm just burdening you more!" Shaking his head, Asriel turned to the other boy. "I would understand if you wanted your SOUL back." he finished softly.

Frisks replied by pushing his nose into Asriel's snout and rubbing it back and forth.

"Noooo! Frisk! Not my snootle…" Asriel whined.

"wow. what a nose nuzzle. you could give Dogamy and Dogaressa a run for their money at the next championship" Sans commentated.

Frisk pulled away to let the other boy recover. "Don't talk like that Azzy!" He cupped Asriel's cheeks in his hands and wiped away his tears away. "I decided a long time ago that I never wanted to leave your side." Grinning mischievously, Frisk placed a hand on Asriel's thigh and gave it a little rub. "Now I have the perfect excuse."

Asriel let out a bleat and looked to Sans for help. "S-Sans, h-help me!" he begged, reaching a paw toward the skeleton.

Sans had already started walking up the stairs, deciding to make his escape before things got weird. He turned back at Asriel's plea. "uh. sorry kid. once Frisk starts flirting, there's no escape. you could say, he's a bit frisky" And with a wink, he was gone.

Asriel shakily turned back to Frisk, sweating as he saw the state of his friend. The other boy's shirt had fallen slightly, revealing their shoulder.

"H-hey! Why don't we watch T.V?." Asriel suggested.

Frisk's eyes sparkled at the prospect of watching some monster television with Asriel. "Ok!" he said, getting comfy next to his friend.

Asriel let out a breath in relief. It wasn't that he didn't like how affectionate Frisk was. The goat boy was just trying to sort out his feelings. His memories of being Flowey left him with lingering feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing, mixed with the innocence and kindness he once had in his past life.

His mental maturity was also incredibly high in certain regards. He had lived countless lifetimes as Flowey, and he was frightened that a darkness may still live inside him. He didn't want to hurt Frisk anymore. From the corner of his eye, Asriel glanced at the other boy.

'Just how many times had he RESET trying to save me though?' Asriel wondered, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

Sighing softly, he picked up the remote and turned on the television. The MTT news channel was busy covering the breaking of the barrier. Live accounts from monsters around the Underground was shown. The monsters spoke about their plans for the future, as well as giving extending their gratitude to the savior, Frisk.

Asriel smiled and ruffled Frisk's hair. "Heehee! You're such a little hero!"

Frisk laughed and then blew a raspberry. "Boring!" he exclaimed. "Let's watch some anime!"

And with that, the channel was changed to the MTT anime channel. And they proceeded to watch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. Even though Asriel had seen it numerous times as Flowey, the little nerd that had been suppressed for so long was ecstatic.

Eventually, Asriel felt Frisk's head bump into his shoulder. Smiling softly, Asriel rested his head against the other boy's. Together they drifted to sleep, their fingers intertwined and hearts beating as one.

 ***Zzzz**


End file.
